Practice Makes Perfect!
Your Mom, band director, baseball coach and teachers all told you, "Practice makes perfect!" as a way to get you to practice what you have learned. And as much as we hate to admit it, they were right. The more we practiced on our own the better we were when it came time to show what we knew - whether on the field, in the performance hall or in the classroom.
The Practices in each Lesson of your course have the same goal. They provide a way for you try out what was covered in the lesson on your own. Most practices in our courses are designed to be a problem for you to solve with the skills you have learned or are a description of a project you are to complete to apply what you have learned. In most cases there is only one answer or the steps you need to follow are fairly well spelled out for you in the course materials.
But don't feel like you are on your own or you have to produce perfect work on the first try. Your instructor will be glad to give you feedback on what you have done or offer suggestions on where to head next. The practice is set up so you can turn in the work more than once, so keep working until you get it right!
And once your Practice is perfect - move onto the show - your Assignment! Show off just what you know - but more on that next time.
Yes, You are teaching yourself - with your instructor's help
One of my classmate posted a comment the other day that it felt like with all the work he was having to do in the class he was teaching himself. He longed for a brick and mortar classroom where he could passively sit and listen while the teacher explained and demonstrated the content and he absorbed it like a sponge.
Had he been within arm's reach I would have slapped him upside the head!
That's not learning - not
real learning. Sure, you may be able to memorize the content and pass a test, but once you are out of school there are no more tests. You are "tested" by being able to apply what you have learned in a classroom to what you are doing in the real world.
And this is where learning online with Lifetime to Learn beats learning anywhere else, as far as I am concerned.
This student may be one who can learn by listening and watching, but I have found that I have difficulty really using the content until I can work through examples and try it out on my own. And aren't we taking these courses to be able to use what we are learning? I know I am. I don't have time to waste on learning just for learning.
I want to be able to DO something not just KNOW it!
Now, I am not one who can sit and read a book and understand and apply what I have just read. I am more of a hands-on learner. I usually start working with the Assignment and then go back and read the book when I get stuck. Then I use the online resources to fill in gaps the book may have. I don't like quizzes but I have found that I have missed subtle points that the quiz points out.
By the time I finish working through all the activities I feel like I know and can use what I have learned. I am ready to face the real world armed with
practical knowledge.
So? Do we really need the teacher? Definitely! My teachers are always a source of help, insight and practical advice. But the teachers are not there to make me learn, force me to learn or pour knowledge into my head. They are there to assist me to learn on my own.
And they all do a great job!
